Griefbots
Commemoration or Violation?
In the latest episode of Prosthetic Gods, we tackle a deeply personal and controversial topic: griefbots. Also called AI ghosts, death avatars, and postmortem avatars, these AI-generated models are built from social media, letters, diaries, and videos of the deceased.
Are they a powerful tool for remembrance, allowing us to reconnect with lost loved ones, or do they undermine human dignity and distort the natural grieving process?
Episode Highlights:
The Ethics of Digital Immortality: Do griefbots bring comfort, or do they interfere with healthy mourning?
Human Dignity vs. AI Replication: What happens when a person’s digital footprint outlives them?
The Role of AI in Memory and Legacy: Should we embrace or regulate this technology?
Insights from Dario Amodei’s Machines of Loving Grace
As AI reshapes the way we live and remember, these questions will only become more urgent. What do you think—would you want a griefbot of someone you loved? Let us know your thoughts.
I would not want such a griefbot. Social media is widely recognized as a fake persona platform. All the things my friend or relatives would say to me would not be there. It would be a poor imitation of a person because there just isn’t enough data to reflect their personality, no matter how good the AI is.